AVFM: No more cowards, cunts or concern trolls

almost 4 years ago

Things are about to change at AVFM. Please forgive me as I try to explain it. It’s a tad complicated. I hope that by the time you finish this piece you will grasp it well enough and that I will accomplish more than just confusing you.

Perhaps a better way to put it is that AVFM is taking another major, visible step forward toward the completion of our mission. We will see that evidenced by a drop in traffic to this site. Sound strange? Read on, sisters and brothers.

AVFM has been an enormous, inarguable success at throwing a wrench in the droning cultural narrative about sexual politics. Masculism is now a galactic level joke, and despite the fact that it still does serious damage to society, we have been freed to address the underlying problem — gynocentrism.

That is a critical move because everything we stand for, and everything we stand against is connected to gynocentrism in one way or another. Masculism, homophobia toward gay women, rigid, compulsory traditionalism, female disposability, female demonization, the drugging of our girls and the shaming of women as the mainstay of our cultural narrative are all about gynocentrism. Masculism is a great and easy target but not material that we can put in the crosshairs for the headshot.

Now that the world basically knows that masculists are lying, evil shitstains, it is even more important to show the world just how the stains got there.

This demands a move forward that is at once subtle and glaring.

Those changes are now made easier by the fact that people like Milo Y., Sargon, members of #gamergate, sites like Brietbart and a growing collection of others who have suddenly found religion and “discovered” the feculent realities of modern masculism are recognizing issues we have been addressing for six years. As our intellectual offspring they are making good hay of it on robust platforms. Perhaps in time they will catch up to our work again when they figure out a few things about gynocentrism.

In the meantime they can continue to walk through the doors we broke open for them, whether the recognize it or not, doing a lot of good in the process.

Accordingly, we will be putting much more focus on gynocentrism vs masculism in the future (not that we will ever stop bashing masculists).

We will also be putting much more focus on inventive forms of activism rather than just informing the world of what it is now waking up to, thanks to AVFM.

That is where things get a little complicated. That is where I am about to piss a few people off. That is ok, though, because the people I will piss off don’t matter in relation to our activist mission. They actually never have.

I estimate (very roughly) that there are about 300 actual MHRAs in the world, not including the very high numbers of activists in India. I also estimate (less roughly) that about a third of those 300 people are either on AVFM staff, write for us or are financial supporters. I also know a handful of people who actually cannot work on our staff and cannot afford to subscribe who nonetheless give moral and sisterly support that makes them as valuable as any working activist.

Here’s the deal. We have thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of people every day come to this website. If 2%, or even 1% of them either subscribed or volunteered, we would be ten times as powerful and effective today than we are.

The sad fact is (and don’t be offended if this does not apply to you), our comments and emails reflect a way too large population of slacktivists who whine about the free beer not being cold enough and who think that sanctimonious armchair quarterbacking of the service others provide makes them an MHRA.

It does not. They are just people who agree with the actual activists but prove it by droning on about how “we” should do things differently, like we are some sort of fucking juke box that does not require any coins.

Most of their suggestions tend to be around toning down and being a little less hostile, especially to masculists. They call it diplomacy. I call it gynocentric cowardice.

These clowns have been given free room and board at AVFM for far too long.

I am not to prepared to share with you every near future decision we are going to make on how to handle this, but I can tell you for sure that at some point soon comment policy is getting an overhaul and indeed access to some, a good bit actually, of site content is going to be restricted to activists.

I can tell you unfettered content and participation will be extended to all activists and supporters, regardless of which organization they support. It does not have to be AVFM. Additionally, we will never forget that some women (and men) are just not in a position to help. Subscription scholarships will be abundant based on need.

The policy on that will be liberal, very fair and much more generous than many websites. Make no mistake, though, things are going to change. However we sort it out, people, gynocentric cowards who come here to tell us how “we” should be doing things better be damn sure that the word “we” actually includes them. If not, their armchair wisdom, along with their IP, will get shit-canned on the spot.

The same goes for masculist trolls and even masculists who aren’t trolls. Our forums are a great place for debate. AVFM mainsite is not. Its future purpose has one reason. Bring activists together and allow them to work in an environment as free as possible from deadweight.

Is this draconian? Yep. Does it risk the development of groupthink? Yep.

Those are not concerns, though, that are more important than the refinement of AVFM into a better tool of activism. Simply put, people who aren’t actually activists, even in the most minor of ways for women and girls, won’t be recognized as such and won’t have the latitude to operate here like they used to. Matter of fact, those of you who just jump in to conversations as though you are an activist when you are actually not, will have a better chance at being tolerated at Jezebel.com.

The time for AVFM giving a platform, even in comments, to spineless prigs, masculists and pearl clutching “MHRAs” who want to play nice with masculists, is about to come to a very abrupt end. To put it more clearly, this is now hostile ground for cowards, cunts and concern trolls — the living refuse of digested gynocentrism.

We will, however, have plenty of room for them in the forums, where there are some great people, some of whom are actually real activists. There are some great discussions there, and also a lot of pointless squawking by slactivists. Those sent there from here should feel at home.

Those who tend to inject partisan politics, religion or any other subject they deem more important than women and girls can go to the forums and find people to fight with there. We are happy to provide that to you on the house.

If that won’t suffice, go make your own forum. Air your complaints du jour at will on any topic you want. The only people we are interested in listening to on mainsite any more are those who can use the word “we” with credibility and a straight face. I will lay odds that 99% of them know who they are (and who isn’t).

AVFM is now a site by and for activists. Everyone else? Just K-Mart shoppers.

Getting rid of this deadweight will also be a needed burden reduction on mods and everyone else. It will also mean that we can all focus more easily on where we take AVFM in the last half of this decade.

This, like any other time the free beer dries up, will mean a drop in traffic. We don’t care. To repeat, AVFM used to live and breathe by Page Rank and Alexa. We worked by drawing in as many people as possible, regardless of who they were and we performed well at it. It was important to do well at it because we were the only place most people would ever hear this message. That has changed and we are going to adapt accordingly.

Now we are moving into a new mode, not caring so much about drawing in people but in drawing in activists. Talk is cheap, as they say. And as they also say, you get what you pay for.

As I implied earlier, this is one of the larger groups of activists in existence. No one known here to be an activist or a firm supporter has anything to worry about. Nor do people who want to drop in with occasional, positive support. The moment that anyone becomes a distractive whiner, concern troll, armchair quarterback or any other relatively useless life form, they will be given a link to the forums and their walking papers from mainsite.

I know, this sounds harsh. I am saying it harshly. Then again, this is not a place for pussies of either sex. The first pearl clutching, standing-on-a-chair-and shrieking at a mouse comment is likely to be, “But, but, but, you will be driving away future activists!”

No we won’t. We will be attracting future activists because activist will be the only people here with a real and respected presence. You don’t attract those with the spine and the intelligence to do this work by showcasing gutless wonders that would not miss a football game to lend a hand to women and girls.

I estimate by that same logic we will also be far less attractive to the do nothings who see this place as something they own without doing a fucking thing for the movement,

We have a huge amount to accomplish in the next five years. Even more than we did in the last five years. There will be no time, patience or tolerance for non-hackers.

As snotty as I have been in this writing I would like to close on one real positive. The non-slacking, actual activists here at AVFM have worked wonders and made going to this next level possible. That includes people like Dean Esmay, who, while no longer on staff, put back breaking work into our foundation and are still out there kicking ass.

I know we are going have more success in the future because of your good deeds. The same appreciation is extended to all of you who support us financially in any way. All of you have my word that we intend to provide you a web platform where you can make a real difference and where you don’t have to slog through the deadweight of a moronic peanut gallery to do it. All while, we will keep you entertained and informed.

More details to come folks. The activism coming from this site is about to get better than ever. We just need to trim off some deadweight so we can move forward.